It Was Just A Joke
by BrynnH87
Summary: Written for a round of LFWS with a prompt "By the time the lie had spread so far and wide that everyone believed it to be the truth, it was too late." This is what my dark muse came up with.


**It Was a Joke**

Tony sat beside McGee's bedside – trying to avoid all the machinery – glad (and then again not glad) to finally have a turn in the injured man's room. Glad because he had wanted to see for himself that Tim was … well, if not okay, at least still alive and slowly recovering. Glad, also, to get out of the waiting room – which had been positively glacial. Gibbs just avoided him, Kate glared at him, and Abby had given him the tongue lashing of a lifetime and _then_ took a page from Gibbs' book and sat on the far side of the room.

No one blamed him for McGee's condition more than Tony himself. But, having his friends – his _family _- so angry with him, was hard to take – no matter how justified it might be.

So, yes, Tony was glad it was finally his turn to sit with Tim in the ICU. But, now that he was here, he didn't know what to do. The doctor's had said to talk to McGee as if he could hear and understand every word. Apparently there were studies that showed that that helped coma patients.

Normally, Tony could keep up a steady stream of chatter for just about any occasion. 'But, what do you say to one of your best friends when he's lying in ICU, hooked up to enough machines to take care of six patients.' Tony thought, 'especially when it's _your_ fault he's there!'

Tony had come into the parking garage at the tale-end of the fight. He had heard more than he'd seen.

He was coming off the elevator when he heard screams, and loud accusations of 'faggot' and 'queer'. He didn't recognize the voices, not even the victim's and by the time he had come barreling around the corner, the perps were fleeing.

Tony had automatically catalogued details of the three men, which he had told Gibbs later, but right then, he was too busy trying to help the victim. The man was so beaten it took a few moments for Tony to realize it was Tim.

McGee had managed to look DiNozzo in the eyes and gurgle something that may have been Tony's name, and then passed out. He had yet to wake up.

In the last two days, while Tim lay hooked to machines, some details had been pieced together. The NCIS team had talked to McGee's doctors, and Gibbs and Abby had peaked in on the man, but most of the team's effort had been concentrated on finding the perps and getting some answers.

There had been a witness that had seen the men fleeing the scene. He identified Paul Mitchell – a fellow NCIS agent – as one of the three, and as the man he saw throw a pipe into the dumpster outside the building. Once the pipe was recovered – bearing Mitchell's prints and McGee's blood – the agent was quick to roll over on his two accomplices.

Apparently – according to all three men – they were sending a message to the 'faggot' that he wasn't wanted there. That puzzled every member of the team at first – including Tony. McGee was new to the team, dressed meticulously and was certainly no lady's man, but by all appearances was straight. Not that the three creeps would have been even _remotely_ justified for even _thinking_ of harming him, even if Tim _was_ gay. The team was just trying to figure out where the three men had gotten their information.

So, they asked the perps. Each had heard it from a different source. Apparently it was a widely spread rumor. When they painstakingly back-tracked the flow of gossip, a name popped up that tore out Tony's heart.

Elaine, from Evidence Lockup, told Gibbs – shyly, as if trying to keep her informant from getting into trouble – that she had heard the rumor from Tony DiNozzo.

"I usually don't put much stock in such talk," Elaine had said, "But Tony is on McGee's team! Surely he would know!"

Gibbs turned to the window in the interrogation room and glared right at Tony, as if he could easily see the man behind the two-way mirror. Elaine had barely finished talking before Gibbs had stormed out of interrogation, slamming the door so hard Tony feared for its hinges.

There was no doubt where Gibbs was headed, so Tony wasn't surprised when the door to the observation room got similar treatment.

"What the _hell_ were you thinking?" Gibbs didn't even wait until he was completely in the room to light into Tony.

"It was a _joke _boss!" Tony tried to defend his behavior, but it sounded pretty lame, even to him. "It was just a way to pick on the probie! A couple of the baggie bunnies were going on about how 'cute' McGee was and I just threw out, 'Forget it ladies. The probie's gay!' before I even thought!" DiNozzo squirmed on his boss's glare until he finally reiterated, "It was just a _joke!"_

"Well, no one's laughing, DiNozzo!" Gibbs spat his name like it was bad coffee and that was the last thing not directly work-related that the man had said to his senior agent.

Tony tried to shake his thoughts back to the present and sank into the chair beside Tim's bed.

"God, McGee!" DiNozzo started, "I am _so_ sorry! It was a joke! An off-hand comment just to get a dig in – even if you weren't there to hear it. I didn't know anyone would take it seriously. I _certainly_ didn't expect anyone to spread it around. But, by the time I realized I needed to do anything about, _this_ had already happened. You _have_ to know I never meant for you to get hurt, right?"

The only response was the rhythmic hiss of the respirator as it aided Tim's punctured (and repaired) lungs as they healed. It hurt Tony to look at Tim's ruined face, but he felt he owed his team-mate that much, so he continued looking, and talking. "We got the bigots that did this, McGee. They're going to jail – if Gibbs or Abby doesn't kill them first and hide the bodies." The humor fell flat with no one to respond. Not knowing what else to say, Tony took Tim's bandaged hand and repeated. "It was just a joke."

End.


End file.
